About the Artist

Maureen McGarry moved to Humboldt County in 1975 to study art at Humboldt State University.  She also chose Humboldt County because it is a stunningly beautiful place.  From the moment she pulled into the town of Arcata for the first time, she knew the Redwood Coast would be her home.

Awakened by her surroundings, she always brought the influence of the local natural elements into her art.  Whether through the colors in her palette, her inclination toward organic forms, or her direct interpretation of landscape, the world behind the redwood curtain provided stimulation and inspiration.

As an undergraduate student at the university, she primarily studied painting.  Two years later she received a teaching credential in art, and went on to finish her Masters in Art in 1990.  After teaching art to children for several decades (which included working with her students on many local murals), she returned to painting watercolors in 2010.  She also began teaching classes for local residents in the “50 and over” age group after receiving a graduate degree in Gerontology in 2012. 

In the summer of 2016, she realized a lifelong dream of traveling to Ireland, her ancestral home.  Not only did she produce several paintings from her 2000-mile road trip around the Emerald Isle, she also published her illustrated children’s book about a leprechaun who visits her home.

Whatever comes next, she knows that nature is her muse, and that art is what reaches into our souls and inspires us to continue searching for beauty and truth.